Doctor Rich:
Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel. Today, I’m going to be reacting to TikTok videos only girls will understand. So we’ll see if my decades of women’s health expertise will help me… understand women. And make sure you stick around to the end to catch my most embarrassing reaction.
Don’t have time to read this post? Watch the video here instead!
Hi, I’m Doctor Rich — and my passion is to provide every woman with practical knowledge about the world of women’s health.
All right. Bring on the TikToks!
[Video of woman dancing with her reflection in a mirror to a song about twins with the captions “pregnancy symptoms” and “period symptoms.”]
Doctor Rich:
Uh… I hope these get better.
So this is a comparison between symptoms that you might get from your periods — presumably mood symptoms like premenstrual dysphoric disorder. This is a condition where you can feel euphoria one minute and depression the next — and these symptoms are very similar to the mood aberrations you might get during pregnancy. (And I don’t know if she’s trying to convince somebody she’s pregnant or not pregnant… I’m just not going to go there!)
[Video of a woman talking to the camera: “This is for girls only. So like, if you’re a guy, keep scrolling or whatever. But listen — when you shower… you know how you’re supposed to like, unscrew your boobs? Do you leave them outside of the shower, or do you pop them onto the wall? Because I know they can, like suction cup…”]
Doctor Rich:
What is happening right now?
[Video continues: “…onto the wall, because like, I want them to get clean too, you know? But I heard some people leave them outside and then wash them separately. What do you do?”]
Doctor Rich:
Um… so for any of you young, pubertal men out there — let me do you a favor: keep scrolling.
[Video of a woman’s first experience getting a bikini wax: “And release. Pressure… You did good! You did good. Deep breath in… and release.”]
Doctor Rich:
I don’t know why we’re watching this.
I suppose it brings up the question: “Is there some hygiene benefit to shaving or waxing as opposed to going all natural?” Does it matter when it comes to seeing your doctor or having surgery in that area?
I would say it doesn’t — it’s all “dealer’s choice.”
But I would say that if you’re about to have gynecologic surgery, if you don’t shave or wax normally — don’t do it right before. There could be some increased risk of infection of the hair follicles if you do it. And if it’s needed during the surgery — we’ll do it in the operating room.
[Video of a woman eating and saying, “Tell me you’re a female without actually telling me you’re a female.” Video cuts to a woman in pajamas eating chocolate and laying on a bed with a heat pad on her lower abdomen.]
Doctor Rich:
So this may be actually the most impactful TikTok we’ve seen so far. I’m sure it resonates with many of our viewers.
We’ve done many videos on period pains or dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis. This is a condition that affects many women. And there are any number of very good treatments that might suit. In fact, we just did a video here recently that talks about all the different spectrum of treatment options that you could use for endometriosis. And the more that there’s education around this condition (like we try to do on our channel), the more awareness, better research, and better treatment options we’re going to have and develop.
So I think that is probably the best video we’re going to see today.
[Video of a woman holding a curved wire, talking to her reflection in the mirror: “Girl, you know what this is! And do you know how painful this little piece of metal is? So yeah, this is the whole TikTok. That’s it.”]
Doctor Rich:
This is maybe where my medical expertise can’t help me. I’m assuming that’s the wire in an underwire bra, but please flood the comments if I’m wrong on this one.
[Video of a woman running down the stairs without a bra and cringing in pain while swearing.]
Doctor Rich:
I hope you had the trigger finger on the profanity bleep on that one!
So yeah. I mean, women have the anatomy (that most men don’t have), and with rapid motion, there could be some movements — and there could be some pain. So wear a bra!
[Video of a woman sleeping. She is pulled off the bed forcefully by an unseen person. The caption reads, “When you tell your boyfriend your period is over.”]
Doctor Rich:
That’s probably accurate.
[Video of someone dripping small amounts of ketchup on a plate with the captions “Day 1, Day 2…” then spilling a large amount on Day 7. The Day 7 caption reads, “Uterus: JK.”]
Doctor Rich [laughing]:
So there’s a teaching moment there.
Yeah, not all periods are created equal. Statistically, 80 millimeters worth of flow is a normal period, but that varies from individual to individual and from period to period. We can talk about using NSAIDS or Motrin and birth control if the periods are extremely heavy (or just to get cycle regulation so that they’re more consistent).
But you should see your doctor if that is what’s going on.
[Video of a woman talking with dramatic music in the background: “Dudes are always like, why don’t you have your nails done? Why don’t you get your hair done?” Then get them done. They’re always like, “Oh, I like your hair like this… I like your nails like this…” Then get them done. Pay for them, give me the money to get them done, or shut the *@!#….]
Doctor Rich:
I’m not sure this has anything to do with medicine… but relationships. Yeah. You’ve got to work that stuff out guys — got to work that stuff out.
[Video of a woman walking in the dark and explaining the many precautions she takes to stay alert and safe.]
Doctor Rich:
Well, that’s a challenging topic and (without opening a can of worms), if a guy had done that video — he’d just be walking without concern. This is just good planning on her part. I think we’ve made a lot of progress as a society, but clearly we’re not there yet. It is our responsibility — our duty — to create a society where women can feel safe and they don’t feel that they have to behave differently than if they weren’t men.
[Video of a woman holding up two fingers: “Put a finger down if you ever just randomly put your hand down the side of your pants for no reason…”]
Doctor Rich:
All right — she said the side of her pants…
[Video continues: “…and lastly, put a finger down if you’ve ever sent a double chin selfie to one of your friends.”]
Doctor Rich:
No.
And there you have it — Doctor Rich reacts to “Only girls will understand” TikToks. You know, men and women are equal, but we’re beautifully unique.
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